Malidoma Patrice Some | Mineral

"...Mineral is the storage place of memory, the principle of creativity, resources, stories, and symbolism. In the cosmological wheel, mineral is located in the west and is colored white. It is the elemental energy that allows us to remember, to communicate with one another, to express our feelings, to receive messages from the Other World, and to remember our origins and purpose in this life. These functions are what the human skeletal structure, made of mineral, is all about. In Dagara physiology, our bones, not the brain, are the storage place of memory. In the village it is not uncommon to hear an elder say, “This is in our bones as it was in the bones of our ancestors.” In the West there is a similar saying, “I knew it in my bones,” which refers to a deeper, more elemental knowing than is possible through rational thought."